


Seeds of Discord Part 19

by kbj1123



Series: Wonder Woman & Captain America [20]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Wonder Woman - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Crossover Pairings, F/M, One True Pairing, Sexual Content, Superheroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-13
Updated: 2015-02-13
Packaged: 2018-03-12 05:56:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3346052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kbj1123/pseuds/kbj1123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone or something is causing violent riots to erupt all over the U.S., and whatever it is, it wreaks havoc with both Wonder Woman's health and Bruce Banner's ability to keep his rage in check.</p><p>While waiting for new orders, Diana and Steve discover information that is bound to complicate their professional and personal lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seeds of Discord Part 19

Diana scoots into the corner of the sofa, pulls her knees to her chest and hugs her calves. The gray leather sofa is one of the very few items that made it from her old apartment to this newer one with Steve. Decoration had always been a low priority for her, much to Steve’s frustration when they moved into their home. In Themyscira, decoration is sparse, natural, and synchronous with the environment. Themyscira is not affected by the seasons of Demeter’s moods; even ceilings weren’t an absolute necessity in buildings. Right now, this late winter is very much a product of Demeter’s mood—and Demeter has been furious of late. Outside, the wind howls and dark gray clouds march across the sky. They remind Diana of the color of bruises. Broken, icy branches attack the outer walls and windows of the apartment. The day suits her mood well. She flips through news channels.

On one station, Senator Belinda Nero, member of the Senate Committee on Parahuman Affairs, is holding a press conference. She stands outside the Capital Building, the wind smacking her red, expensive-looking scarf into her dark red-lipsticked mouth. “…absolutely inconsistent with American family values,” she is saying to reporters. “We are in the process of reassessing whether America needs Wonder Woman as a symbol of leadership, or whether she has American interests at heart.” 

Diana is reminded of the last few days of her visit home. She’d brought Steve with her. She was there because of Steve, actually. She thinks of the last conversation she’d had with her mother there. It was early morning, and pink sunlight immersed her mother’s open chamber with warmth. She sat at Hippolyta’s knee and leaned on her lap like she did as a child. Hippolyta stroked Diana’s long, silky hair and fought back tears. Diana cried, too, but only a little bit. There was a slight breeze that morning. Purple petals and small, sharp leaves swept across the marble floor and grazed their skin. The heady scent of lilacs wafted past them and drifted away with the wind. “You’ve chosen to abandon your people, my dear daughter,” Hippolyta said quietly. We will always love you, but I do not think any of us will completely forgive you.” 

That morning last year, she had confirmed her decision: home was wherever Steve went. Her mother sobbed into the sweet-scented wind. It was all or nothing with Hippolyta; Themyscira will never be her home again. This is home because Steve is here. Right now, it comforts her to have representation of who he is all around her. On Themyscira though, there were marble and sand and hanging gardens. Diana hadn’t considered decoration in her own apartment until she and Steve had combined their things, donated overlapping items, and merged their lives. 

Most of the furniture is dark walnut wood with rounded flourishes on the edges against cream-colored walls. Planks of the darkly-stained wood floor peek out from blue and yellow throw rugs with art-deco prints. There are touches of 1930’s memorabilia throughout: reproductions of old movie posters, a few War mementos such as a defunct grenade and an old, framed black and white picture of him as Captain America, posing with the Howling Commandos. In the office, Steve has a framed print from the late 1940’s. It is a picture of her as Wonder Woman posing as a pinup girl for the troops. If there wasn’t a flat-screened TV on one wall, a visitor might even wonder if they’d stepped back in time.

She contemplates how the integration of physical objects and personal lives are in some ways the same thing. She doesn’t have a lot of things per se, but this is still home. She doesn’t need physical objects, really, as constant reminders of who she is…or who they are. Pictures of them together fill a shelf across the room: little moments some reporter or fan caught on camera, which one friend or another would inevitably scan and send to Diana. She rests her gaze on a wedding picture in a silver frame and thinks of that unseasonably warm fall day. The sun bathed everyone with warmth and it brightened the green, gold and red leaves rustling in the light breeze. She recalls the faint smell of cinnamon that infused the air that early evening. She thinks of Steve in his mess uniform, how his dark blue eyes shone with emotion as she approached him. Diana looks down at her rings. Physical objects are important and sentimental, but not necessary. She is sure of that. Symbols and feelings are not the same things. Only love matters. After everything else happens; and under every other emotion or thought, this is the real truth of things. 

On CNN, Senator Fred Cray, also on the Senate Committee on Parahuman Affairs, repeats the talking points. He sits behind a desk wearing a navy-blue suit, red tie, and an obvious-looking toupee. “Wonder Woman’s liberalism and pro-abortion stance set a poor example for the girls and young women who look up to her,” he tells the cameras. He adds that her costume is revealing, and from this we certainly can question her moral and personal values. Apparently this last bit also causes conjecture about how often she is seen working only with Captain America. Footage of the night in front of the movie theater appears in the corner of the Fox News screen. Could Wonder Woman be a home-wrecker? 

“Why are you watching this garbage?” Steve asks as he walks in. He hands her a cup of tea.

“Evidently I’m destroying your marriage,” she says in a monotone voice.

He sits at the other end of the sofa with his coffee and spreads the newspaper across the space between them. “You’re telling me,” he replies. “You’re a terrible cook!” Diana smirks and tosses a throw pillow at him; he catches it and throws it back. On MSNBC, the Committee Leader, Percy Fremont, who is boyish-looking and progressive, also makes these points as Director Fury frowns behind him, arms folded. Wonder Woman cannot be trusted to protect our nation and she is most certainly a bad role-model for girls and young women. Diana turns off the TV’s sound and just watches the headlines scroll by. Riots, violence, and death are all over the place. Right now, she misses her mother a little bit, and she misses her lifelong home. There are good reasons why Hippolyta scorns the inhabitants of Patriarch’s World. She takes a few more swallows her tea, which she has allowed to get cold. “I suppose it could be worse; The Concordance Group could have leaked my identity.”

They sit for a while as Steve contemplates this. “They still may,” he considers. The bruised clouds darken and hail knocks against the window. It thumps into the snow and slush below. “We need to be very careful about all of this.” Diana says nothing. She tightens her lips into a grimace and groans. “We should talk to Director Fury and Assistant Director Hill and weigh the pros and cons of keeping you under wraps,” he continues. 

Diana glances at the screen. “I think we might be too late.” On the screen are three pictures: Steve, herself in her civilian identity, and Wonder Woman. The headline flashes: “BREAKING NEWS: Wonder Woman Identity Revealed.”


End file.
